Genesis 50 "Joseph Dies"

Genesis 50:25-26 "And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones frome hence. So Joseph died, being and hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt."

Joseph was about 30 years old when Israel came to Egypt. Jacob lived 17 years in Egypt then died. Joseph was 110 when he died, so the people lived under the protection of Joseph for about 63 years after Jacob died.

It should be no surprise that things change rapidly after Joseph's death. We have only to look back to a conversation between Abraham and the Lord in Genesis 15:13 "And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years."

We know from this passage that things were bound to change. In fact, we knew long before Joseph was sold into slavery. There is a promise with this prediction though in Genesis 28:15 we read "And behold I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."

Then as Israel prepares to make his journey to Egypt and stopped off to pray. The Lord quiets Jacob's fears with a passage in Genesis 46:2-4. Here let me point out a couple of points:
*God tells Jacob not to fear
*God reminds Jacob of who he is
*Israel will become a great nation while in Egypt
*God will go down with Jacob

Let's read the verses: "And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob, And he said Here am I. And he said I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes."

Joseph was not there for that conversation but he served the same God and had a direct line of communication himself. In the chapter we are looking at, we can see Joseph is confident that his people would leave Egypt in the future for he told them to carry his bones out. Look at verse 25 again ..."God will surely visit you and ye shall carry up my bones from hence."

In the mean time, Jacob has been carried back to the burial place of his fathers for burial. There was a great company from Pharaoh's people and Israel's. v9 "And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company."

The Bible makes a point of mentioned the 'floor of Atad' which we should keep in mind to see if it turns up again later in our study. The place was renamed Abelmizraim which is beyond Jordan by the Canaanites.

In summary, we have reached a point in the history of Israel where there is no 'one' leader. There are the 12 tribes but soon they will be without the father's of those tribes. They are a people in a foreign land. I wonder do they remember that it will be a total of 400 years before they get to leave. I wonder if they know they are growing into a 'great' nation. I believe the words of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob echoed throughout the tribes for 400 years.

Proverbs 4:23 "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."